Aircraft Arrow for his late friend and local RC
celebrity, James Shelmire, who was diagnosed

with cancer in fall 2007. James, a former designer of railroad cars
for New Jersey Transit, had begun the build and sadly, lost his battle
with cancer early last year. Knowing how much James loved the
hobby, Thomas felt he should complete this kit from Top Flite in his
friend’s honor. The covering is cream MonoKote and trimmed in
metallic green. The aircraft is powered by an

Why did you feel compelled to finish this

build?

TH: Besides being president of Delaware Valley R/C Club, James
always headed and participated in club events. He attacked each
task with vigor and devoted many, many hours to maintaining our

O.S. 91 SII 4-stroke engine and controlled by
eight Futaba servos and a JR radio. “It’s a
superb flyer in honor of a good man,” Thomas
wrote. We talked to Thomas to learn more
about his friend and fellow flier and the model
they both built.

flying site. He passed on very quickly and left behind the Arrow and
a soon-to-be completed Top Flite Bonanza. I completed them in his
honor and one talented junior club member will fly the Arrow, whereas the Bonanza will be flown by an actual Bonanza pilot. I didn’t
want the kits to just sit around and gather dust, so I decided to
build them and fly them, and we all know he’ll be watching our
every move and flight.

THRILL OF THE BUILDDr. Edward L. Martin, Asheville, NC

This 72-inch-span “old timer” is suited up in black and orange is powered by a Magnum . 52 XL 4-stroke that spins a 12x6 Master Airscrew
prop. It was built from a Ben Buckle kit using balsa and wood and
covered with Fibafilm. “The building for me is just as much fun as flying the finished plane,” Dr. Martin writes.

THE REAL DEALFrank Mustari, Bolton, Ontario, Canada

After “days and months” of considering submitting photos of two
of his planes, Frank Mustari finally took the plunge! This terrific
1⁄3-scale Stearman by Balsa USA has a wingspan of 116 inches
and working rudder pedals, yokes and throttles, as well as navigation lights. Frank covered the plane in Solartex, and used
pieces of fishing line and strips of Solartex to mimic pinking tape
for the rib stitching. “It looks and flies like the real thing and
attracts a lot of attention at the flying field!” Frank writes.

SEND IN YOUR SNAPSHOTS! Model Airplane News is your magazine, and we encourage reader participation. In “Pilot
Projects,” we feature pictures from you—our readers. Color slides and color prints are acceptable, but please do not send
digital printouts or Polaroid prints. Emailed submissions must be at least 300dpi. We receive so many photographs that we
are unable to return them. While every published entry will receive a Model Airplane News baseball cap, one pilot’s project
will be selected as the “Project of the Month” and will receive a one-year digital membership to Model Airplane News. Send
entries to “Pilot Projects,” Model Airplane News, Air Age Inc., 20 Westport Rd., Wilton, CT 06897 USA.